Conversations With Carp - Talks Cut Short... but,

Being in fine fettle yesterday morning, I planned to make it a day of extended talks with carp.  At five minutes after six, while dawn was still announcing itself, I was standing on the creek bank.  Within fifteen minutes two carp would come to hand.  At that point I was telling myself it could possibly be an outstanding carp-by-fly day. 

The fly yesterdays carp fell for.

But, an outstanding carp-by-fly day it would not turn out to be.  It seems one of the young hands at the mercantile store didn't make it to work, and this old man went in to take up the slack.  I should say this old grumbling man went in to take up the slack.

However, since I was giving time to the mercantile store I was deserving of a lunch hour and I quickly returned to the creek for a short hour reprieve.  In that hour one more carp would come to hand and this would be the extent of my carp-by-fly day. 

Even though my planned extended talks with carp was cut short on Saturday, I have nothing to complain about.  Last week was one of the more enjoyable weeks I can recall. 

A week ago Saturday, my youngest daughter Kempy married an outstanding man in Van Stacey.  As her father I could not be more pleased or proud of the happiness Kempy has found with Van.  Besides, Van likes to spend a lot of time in the outdoors fishing and hunting, so we will get along just fine.

On Monday I watched the Oklahoma City Thunder take one step closer to winning the NBA Western Conference by beating the Spurs for the third straight game.

On Tuesday, I had one of the best carp experiences of my carp-by-fly life in capturing five carp in less than an hours time on the water.  It was efficiency at it's best.

On Wednesday, I watched the OKC Thunder slowly dismantle the Spurs and win the Western Conference.  Now, these young talented men are on their way to the NBA finals.

The Thunder will face the Miami Heat for the NBA title.

On Thursday, the UPS driver delivered the replacement rod for my broken Temple Fork six-weight.  This rod has been missing in action for a good while and I've truly missed the rod.  How can we not love lifetime warranties on our fly rods?

On Friday, our friend Charlie waltzes into the mercantile store and hands me a Carp On The Fly window decal.  I love this thing!  Having a window decal like this makes a guy feel kind of official.  I wasted little time in slapping the decal on the prairie schooner along with other decals such as Fly Fish, Aztec Anglers, and The Fiberglass Manifesto.

Of course there was yesterday and I've already reported about Saturday.  Let me add that even though the outing was much shorter than I hoped for, any time spent on the creek chasing carp-by-fly is good time. 

And then there was this morning.  This Sunday morning, as most, the mercantile store owned my being.  Around 8:30 this morning the call of the creek was simply too much.  I inform the girls in the office I would be taking a break and would return within an hour.  Actually, I would be back at the store some forty-five minutes later.  So, it was out the door and to the creek, white shirt and all.

On the creek I would miss the first two carp sucks from simply not paying attention.  The third carp, a rather prodigious fellow, would snap my line like it was nothing.  This is the second time this week I've had my line broke by one of the larger carp that make Rock Creek home. 

Finally, I would capture a young carp using the same red tail stinger fly used yesterday.  The fly that attracted the two missed opportunities along with the broken line was Charlie's Biter Critter.  It was a fly I had just tied to replace the last one that was lost due to a carp breaking the line.

It's been a good week.